Rounded up to 3.5 stars! Overall I enjoyed this story, it was really whimsical and I enjoyed the fairytale and magical elements. 

My main complaint is that I was so disappointed by the “villain” and the adventure element in the final third of the book. I *so* wanted the villain and the main conflict to be… less silly. At first when we’re introduced to Lord Hollowvale, he’s described as an evil faerie stealing souls. And then when we finally come across him, and learn his motivation, he’s — hosting balls and making up really silly rules for his own world….? His whole premise is collecting English things because they’re the most virtuous? He wears many coats because according to him that’s what makes a man of great renown? The whole thing just started to feel too silly and childish for what I was expecting the middle and end to be. 

I really enjoyed the romance between Elias and Dora, and I did love that the moral of the story was essentially “you are enough”, because I think we all struggle with accepting ourselves for who we are instead of picking apart what we feel we’re lacking. 

I just wanted much more ACTUAL danger and the stakes to be higher. This book and the characters had so much potential. I know there are more books in the series but not sure if I’ll read them yet.